Jerry Powers, chief probation officer for Los Angeles County, right, announces at a Monday, Sept. 17, 2012 press conference that 39 probation department employees have been arrested over a 9 month period. The majority of arrests have been for driving under the influence and the other arrests range from bank and insurance fraud to attempted murder. Most offenses were committed while employees were off duty. (Scott Varley/Staff Photographer)

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Jerry Powers, chief probation officer for Los Angeles County, right, announces at a Monday, Sept. 17, 2012 press conference that 39 probation department employees have been arrested over a 9 month period. The majority of arrests have been for driving under the influence and the other arrests range from bank and insurance fraud to attempted murder. Most offenses were committed while employees were off duty.

FBI agents arrested former state assemblyman Carl Washington on charges of bank fraud Monday, surprising him while he worked at the headquarters of the county Probation Department.

The federal indictment accuses Washington, 47, of stealing thousands of dollars from banks and credit unions by pretending to be a victim of identity theft.

"He purchased several goods and services for himself and others, including airline tickets, hotels, rental cars, and also made several cash advances over a four-year period," Assistant United States Attorney Douglas Miller said.

FBI agents arrested Washington around 10 a.m. at the Probation Department's headquarters in Downey, where he has worked since 2006 and currently serves as Division Chief of Intergovernmental Relations and Legislative Affairs.

According to the indictment, Washington allegedly obtained credit cards and loans from financial institutions, shopped for thousands of dollars worth of items and then - instead of paying the bills - filed police reports claiming the credit cards and loans had been opened by someone else, an identity thief.

Afterwards, Washington supposedly used the police reports to keep credit rating agency Experian from downgrading his credit score. He then purportedly applied for new credit cards and loans without disclosing his unpaid balances, and repeated the process over again.

Miller declined to reveal how much money was involved but said Washington allegedly ran the scam from February 2007 through August 2011. He added federal investigators began looking into the case in May 2011.

Washington, a former Baptist preacher who represented Paramount, Compton and Lynwood in the state Assembly a decade ago, faces three counts of bank fraud and three counts of making a false statement to a federally insured financial institution.

Each of the charges carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison, but Miller said it was "unlikely" that Washington would get the maximum sentence.

Washington is the 39th Probation employee arrested so far this year and he will not be the last, according to Chief Probation Officer Jerry Powers.

About half of the previous arrests were for driving under the influence.

There was one for attempted murder, and several for fraud and drug-related charges, most of which were allegedly committed while off duty.

"That's about one arrest a week," said Powers, who began running the department in January. "Certainly, 39 is way beyond reasonable or expected."

That number is expected to go even higher, as Probation and the county Chief Executive Office have launched a crackdown on workers compensation fraud in the department.

Probation has about 6,500 employees, and approximately 650 - or 1 out of every 10 - have active claims for injuries supposedly suffered on the job. CEO William Fujioka has previously expressed skepticism about some of the claims, which costs the department several million taxpayer dollars each year.

"For those employees who are engaged in criminal conduct of any kind, my message is this: I will utilize every resource at my disposal to bring you to justice," Powers said. "We will not stop or be detoured until we are sure that justice has been served."

He said the department had been lax about enforcing discipline in previous years, but is now expanding the division that investigates misconduct by employees.

"When anyone does something that impugns the integrity of the only job I've ever done, I take it very personally, I take it emotionally, it's something that I'm not going to tolerate," Powers said in a news conference at the same building where Washington was arrested three hours before.

A Democrat, Washington formerly represented parts of South Los Angeles area in the state Assembly. In 2001, he lost a bid for the Los Angeles City Council to Jan Perry. In 2002, he was termed out of the Assembly.

He is listed online as an associate minister and website administrator at St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles.